The Wellcome Connecting Science/H3ABioNet Call for Classroom Hosts and Participants: Genome Sequencing Bioinformatics Africa Training Course

The Wellcome Connecting Science / H3ABioNet are calling for Classroom Hosts and Participants to apply for the “Genome Sequencing Bioinformatics Africa Training Course”.

This course aims to equip participants with the essential informatics skills required to begin analysing data and apply some of the most commonly used tools and resources for sequence data analysis.
The programme covers prominent sequencing technologies, algorithmic theory, and principles of bioinformatics, with a strong focus on practical computational sessions using sequence analysis techniques and tools applicable to any species or genome size. A variety of applications will be covered from post-sequencing analysis, quality control, reference  alignment, and variant calling.

Type of training: Blended/hybrid learning

Venue of workshop: Distributed Classrooms

Participation: The course is available to any classroom who meets the requirements and to any participant who is able to attend a physical/online classroom, provided they have been selected via the selection process. Should a classroom decide to host a face-to-face classroom, the participant must be able to attend this classroom in person for the duration of the course.

Intended audience/Eligibility:

• Applicants should be postdoctoral scientists, senior PhD students, junior faculty members or clinicians/healthcare professionals actively engaged in or soon to commence research involving next generation sequencing data analysis.
• Priority will be given to applicants who 1) currently or will soon have NGS experimental data to analyse 2) will utilise the bioinformatics techniques taught in at least two of the modules/topic areas listed in the programme outline in their experiments 3) have a clear plan/opportunity to disseminate the knowledge amongst their peers. We encourage applicants to highlight these areas in their application.

Course topics:

• Intro to Unix/Linux & running workflows
• Introduction to Sequencing Technologies
• Sequencing data pre-processing and QC
• Alignment to reference sequences
• Variant calling and annotation

Learning Objectives:
After this workshop participants should be able to:-

• Use the unix command-line as a tool for data analysis
• Describe the different NGS data file formats available
• Perform QC assessment of high throughput sequencing data
• Explain the algorithmic concepts behind read alignment, variant calling and structural variant detection
• Perform read alignment, variant calling and structural variation detection using standard tools

To apply to host a classroom for the course in 2023, click here.

Read more here.

Important dates

1. Classroom host application deadline – May 19, 2023
2. Participant applications open – June 15, 2023
3. Participant application deadline – July 13, 2023
4. Course start date – August 15, 2023